Following the controversy and backlash after Jo Koy’s monologue, which months later is still being talked about. Comedians such as Jimmy Kimmel, Yannis Pappas, Amy Schumer, even Josh Peck shared their own insights on the matter.
Hosting The Golden Globes
This particular gig isn’t particularly known for being easy. Even stars like Andy Samberg, the guy who spent years performing for one of the world’s most iconic live shows, Saturday Night Live, said after co-hosting the Golden Globes in 2019,
At home, I think you can tell it’s loud, but imagine that times ten.
Not only that, the audience members are celebrities and huge names in pop-culture while all simultaneously being broadcasted internationally. It’s no surprise that over the years comedians always decline hosting.
Previous hosts like Jerrod Carmichael and Ricky Gervais have had their own takes on how to host the Globes, they weren’t under so much backlash compared to how Jo Koy performed.
Jo Koy’s Jokes
The Golden Globes was not only a significant event in pop culture, it was also the first time that Koy was hosting, ever. His opening monologue wasn’t exactly well-received.
The most notable bits from his monologue under scrutiny are his jokes about the NFL and Taylor Swift and the Barbie movie. At the same time Swift was also undergoing her biggest tour yet, the ‘Eras Tour’ so fans who weren’t even watching the show worldwide quickly got word.
The big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL? At the Golden Globes, we have fewer camera shots of Taylor Swift.
While videos and pictures surfaced online that showed Swift’s reaction that wasn’t exactly laughing. His most controversial joke however was about the two movies, ‘Oppenheimer’ and ‘Barbie’ both released at the same time and both had completely opposite themes. The joke was,
Oppenheimer is based on a 721-page Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the Manhattan Project, and Barbie is on a plastic doll with big boobies.
Pictures surfaced online of the event and claimed that most of the audience were so unimpressed with the joke and those who were watching the performance live, quickly went to social media and delivered onto him swift backlash.
This shot is so brutal, as if someone from the control room knew Jo Koy was gonna bomb hard after the Barbie joke they made sure to get a wide shot of the audience. #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/u78k5vBS4l
— Dwight De Leon (@newsdwight) January 8, 2024
Social media users were quick to criticize and label him misogynist. Greta Gerwig herself, the director of the Barbie movie, even had something to say about it,
Well, he’s not wrong. She’s the first doll that was mass-produced with breasts, so he was right on.
There were also parts of his opening where he acknowledges that not everyone is laughing at his jokes. People then add that to his criticism and claimed that he’s pinning the blame on his writers.
Yo, I got the gig ten days ago, you want a perfect monologue?” he yelled. “Yo, shut up. You’re kidding me, right. Slow down. I wrote some of these, and they’re the ones you’re laughing at.
His outburst would be referenced by other comedians as well, most notably on the next big award show, the Emmy Awards by Ken Jeong and Joel McHale when they were presenting an award.
Comedian’s Side
Koy explained that the joke wasn’t meant as a job towards the pop star but rather toward the NFL for using cutaways and how the Golden Globes doesn’t have to resort to cutaways.
I think the Taylor one was just a little flat and I just…it was a weird joke, I guess, but it was more on the NFL. I was trying to make fun of the NFL using cutaways and how the Globes shouldn’t have to do that. So it was more of a jab toward the NFL. It just didn’t come out that way.
He then admits that he was hurt by the criticism he received online and that he was having of a bit of an off day. He also admits that hosting is a different matter entirely to stand-up and describes it as a “tough gig”.
At the end of the day, Koy says that he holds no regrets over what happened,
That’s one thing I wanna be proud about. It was a long journey, and the opportunity came. No one knew where the Golden Globes was gonna be, and then at the last second, CBS picked up the show and everyone was kinda turning down the offer because of the time, and I jumped on it.
Comedians’ Take on Koy
While other celebrities and personalities like Tom Cruise, Howard Stern, Whoopi Goldberg have stepped in to defend Jo Koy, no one understands the struggle more than his fellow comedians.
Kevin Hart and Andrew Schulz agree that it was just an off-day for Jo Koy, he’s still a phenomenal comedian and maybe he wasn’t ready to perform for a crowd of celebrities and speculated that maybe he was just rattled from the lack of reaction.
Comedians like Steve Martin and Michael Che, also defended Koy saying that hosting a live awards show isn’t exactly easy for everyone especially for first-time host Jo Koy. Not all comedians immediately came to his defense though –
Recently, Amy Schumer talked about the Globes on the podcast, Not Skinny But Not Fat, and said that she wasn’t particularly a fan of the way Jo Koy blamed his writers (Jo Koy acknowledged this and said it was a rookie mistake). She said,
The thing with Jo … he threw his writers under the bus and that was not a good look. If I’m going to say a joke about anyone … I’m going to clear it.
Schumer continued that Koy got a lesson handed to him. Despite this she empathized with the comedian by saying that online backlash is something she wouldn’t wish on anyone. To which Josh Peck quickly defended by saying that I took issue with Amy Schumer who recently was on the Dear Media podcast.
I feel defensive of comedians. It’s a brotherhood, it’s a sisterhood. And she basically was critical of Jo Koy. She was throwing him under the bus, which was sh**ty because she’s a comedian. It’s like, we all know he had a tough night. Why continue to go after him a month later?
Jimmy Kimmel Thinks He Should Host Again
Unlike Koy, Kimmel is a seasoned emcee at prestigious Hollywood Award shows. Kimmel thinks that the Golden Globes should definitely invite him back again even saying that it’s a smart move because he’s learned all the lessons he needed to learn.
Kimmel speculates that the reason for the harsh backlash was that Koy came after the crowd. A tradition most likely started by Ricky Gervais‘ iconic Golden Globes shows.
It’s like if a stranger walks up to you and goes, ‘Nice shirt, Tom Selleck.’ If it’s one of your friends, you don’t take offense to it, but if it’s somebody you don’t know, you might smack him one
Jo Koy also recently stated that he would still consider hosting the show again but with months of preparation instead of days.
Though award ceremonies are unlikely for now for Jo Koy, he is however headlining an arena for the very first every Abu Dhabi Comedy Week (Learn more about it HERE). We try to keep you updated on ALL things comedy so check out our site for more! If you’re looking for absolutely hilarious comedy shows and talented comedians, all available here at Big Belly Comedy Club, 7 nights a week!
